Target Centermass

The stories of the treatment of American military personnel during the days of Viet Nam by some of their own countrymen still disgustingly resound today. These days, some are trying to top that distastefulness by targeting loved ones left behind in a far more ominous manner.

Military police are investigating a cruel hoax in which a man wearing an Army dress uniform falsely told the wife of a soldier that her husband had been killed in Iraq.

Investigators are trying to determine why the man delivered the false death notice and whether he was a soldier or a civilian wearing a military uniform.

“We’re taking it extremely seriously. Whatever motivation was behind it, it was a sick thing to do,” said Fort Stewart spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Whetstone.

Well, yes, it is quite a horridly sick thing to do. The obvious question, however, is simply this — are we dealing with a sick person delighting in inflicting distress or a sick person taking delight in a similar manner but also with a political motive?

Last month, 19,000 soldiers from the Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division deployed for their second tour of duty in Iraq. At least eight division soldiers have been killed since then.

Fort Stewart officials would not identify the Army wife who reported to military police that a man posing as a casualty assistance officer came to her door February 10.

“Right off the bat, she noticed some things were not right,” Whetstone said. “The individual’s uniform wasn’t correct — there were no markings or name tags. Plus, the person was alone, and she knew one person does not make (death) notifications.”

Whetstone said no similar hoaxes have been reported.

When the 3rd Infantry first deployed to Iraq for the 2003 invasion, some Fort Stewart families reported receiving phone calls from pranksters saying their soldiers had been killed.

I just wanted to point out that it is my opinion that the reporter is taking serious liberties with the concepts of hoaxes and pranks. The bastard didn’t throw toilet paper into trees — he played on the deepest of fears of those with loved ones in harm’s way.

This time around, troops and their spouses got pre-deployment briefings that included detailed explanations of how death notices work. Two soldiers, including a chaplain, in dress uniform always arrive to tell the family in person. The Army never makes notifications over the telephone.

Fort Stewart spouses have been spreading news of the latest hoax, said Army wife Michelle Dombrowski, who received an e-mail more than a week ago reporting the incident.

“I can’t believe that someone would do that,” said Dombrowski, whose husband, Staff Sgt. Joe Dombrowski, is deployed with the 3rd Infantry. “I know the protocol, though.”

Military police described the suspected hoaxer as being 6-feet, 1-inch tall and about 180 pounds with black or brown hair and a pale complexion. He was reported to be driving a blue or green pickup truck with chrome wheels, oversized tires and a Georgia license plate.

Feel free to go check the CNN article for a police sketch of this demented punk. Apparently, blue-star wives and families should be on the lookout for a tall, narrow-eyed version of E.T.

When the Iraqi Sunnis threatened to boycott the January elections, I supported following through with the voting as planned and predicted that it would “only be a hard-learned lesson in democracy” if the Sunnis chose to shortchange themselves in the balloting. Shortly after the momentous elections, a secular Sunni leader voiced the accuracy of my prediction, talking of second thoughts among Sunni parties.

Now, weeks later, the Pentagon supports the truth of my statement.

Many Iraqis who had opposed the U.S.-led transition to democracy have begun reconsidering their position in light of the Jan. 30 elections, a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday.

Larry Di Rita, chief spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, told reporters he knew of no leaders of the insurgency who have offered to end their opposition. He asserted that the elections have widened the circle of Iraqis who want to participate in the political process.

“The Iraqi people have demonstrated a clear sense of hope for the future, and that sense of hope is increasingly out of step with many of the people who were either on the fence or lending tacit support to the insurgency, so I would imagine a lot of those people are coming forward,” he said.

Don’t let people lie to you — sometimes, saying “I told you so” can be sweet.

The spokesman said the U.S. military facilitates contact between the interim Iraqi government and representatives of opposition or insurgent groups, but he said the military is not negotiating with any groups. Most of this work is being done by the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government, he said.

“I think the people who are involved in this know that the Iraqi transitional government has itself been doing its own analysis of who (among the insurgents) might be willing to end the fight and who is worth having those kinds of discussions with,” he added. “But it’s not our place to comment on that.”

Discussions with some of the insurgents? Fine, I have no problem with that. Some may actually see themselves as the patriots for their Iraqi homeland that some on the American left have tried to paint all the terrorists in Iraq as being. These are the ones that can be dealt with via negotiations, having witnessed their nation embracing democracy and working to form their own government.

Now, as for the radical Islamists and foreign terrorists, no deals. Only defeat or death. And how is that progressing?

Brig. Gen. David Rodriguez, a deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there has been a small decline in insurgent attacks since the elections. He added that it may be too soon to draw any conclusions about the strength or size of the insurgency.

Di Rita declined to say whether it appears the insurgency is losing strength.

“The insurgency is what it is,” he said. “A large number of insurgents are being killed and captured. They are still capable of doing great harm. They’re killing a lot of innocent civilians inside of Iraq,” and as a result Iraq is a “country that has thrown itself back into the dark ages.”

And that, y’all, is a realistic assessment — a hell of a lot of progress, but a hell of a long way to go for the Iraqi people, their government and our fine troops.

First of all, sorry for the week-long hiatus. I think I just needed to step away for a bit, but I’m back and I’ll try to not do that again in such an unannounced manner. I really did sit down almost every night planning to post but best intentions, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, back to blogging.

It takes close coordination with the Army to obtain maximum misuse of air power.

—Gen. Carl A. Spaatz